Golden Eagles wrap up regular season with two on the road

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee Tech volleyball team will play
matches at Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky this weekend - the
final weekend of the regular season. Tech will take on the MSU
Eagles on Friday at 7 p.m. before the regular season finale against
the EKU on Saturday at 2 p.m.

The Golden Eagles enter the weekend needing one win to clinch a
spot in the six-team OVC Tournament. Jacksonville State has already
claimed the OVC regular season title and will play host to the
tournament, while Austin Peay will be the second seed. Morehead
State has clinched a spot in the tournament but could be seeded in
either the third or fourth seed. The remaining seeds are still up
for grabs.

Currently, Murray State (9-6 OVC) would be the fourth seed,
Tennessee Tech (9-7 OVC) the fifth and Southeast Missouri (8-8 OVC)
the sixth. However, Eastern Kentucky (6-9 OVC) is in seventh place
in the OVC and still has a chance to make it to the tournament.

Both of the Golden Eagle opponents this weekend have a lot to
play for, which should make for some highly competitive matches.

Morehead State has lost four of its last six OVC matches after
starting its OVC schedule with an 8-1 mark. The Eagles lost
back-to-back matches against Jacksonville State and Tennessee Tech
and also fell to Austin Peay and Southeast Missouri State.

The Eagles are offensively by setter Kristie Brangers who is
averaging more than 10 assists per set. Freshman middle blocker
Anne Gruenschlaeger leads the OVC in blocks with 139. The Golden
Eagles defeated Morehead State, 3-1, at Eblen Center when the two
teams played in mid-October.

Eastern Kentucky had a rough start to its 2009 season, losing
its first 12 contests before picking up its first win of the season
against Southeast Missouri. The Colonels have won three of their
last five matches and are 6-2 at home this season.

Eastern Kentucky is led by libero Abby O'Connor who is among the
leaders in the OVC with 446 digs. Lauren Snyder leads the team
offensively, averaging 3.21 kills per set during conference play.
Tech defeated EKU in a three-set sweep the first time the two teams
met at Eblen Center.